As part of its response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, UMCES' Chesapeake Biological Laboratory is proud to provide the online resources for use by families and educators.
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION EXPERIMENT
The oceans of the world absorb CO2, a gas in the atmosphere that humans breathe out, plants breathe in, and that is released in large amounts into the atmosphere from activities like burning fossil fuels. It is normal for the oceans to absorb this gas, but when too much CO2 enters the ocean it can be harmful to marine life, particularly organisms that make calcium carbonate shells. Some of these animals include crabs, snails, and clams. Many of these organisms are also lower in the food web - they are the food source for larger animals! If animals with calcium carbonate shells are harmed, it can harm the whole ecosystem. This addition of CO2 into the ocean changes the pH of the water, and it can become corrosive to these shells. It makes existing shells vulnerable, but it can also make it harder to form new shells.
This experiment, and the video below, are designed to teach kids at home about the effects of decreasing pH in the ocean, commonly called Ocean Acidification.
Download the Ocean Acidification Experiment Instructions and Data Collection Sheet
Becoming an Arctic Researcher, with Christina Goethel
WAVE OF PLASTIC MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULAR UNIT
The “Wave of Plastic” is an education partnership program that aims to help Southern Maryland students understand the connections between actions on land, plastic pollution in local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay, and student environmental stewardship. Launched in 2019, the UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and Appalachian Laboratory, Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS), and St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS) produced a new middle school curriculum unit focused on plastic marine debris. When teacher professional development was disrupted by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Wave of Plastic team made adaptations so that the five lesson plans can be taught in an at-home environments by parents and teachers throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Wave of Plastic is supported by a NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant.
Click here for Lesson 1: A Planet Full of Plastic:
- How do we describe, quantify, and communicate about issues related to plastic waste?
- What is per-capita consumption and how do our choices and activities regarding the consumption and disposal of materials contribute to plastic waste?
- What choices are available for reducing our own personal plastic waste? What are the effects of those choices?
- How can we communicate our ideas, inform perspectives, and inspire action?
Click here for Lesson 2: What is Plastic?:
- How do we describe, quantify, and communicate about the issue of plastic waste?
- What are some of the consequences of the manufacture, use, and disposal of plastic?
- What happens to plastic over time?
- What are some of the alternatives to plastic?
- What properties of plastic influence our everyday choices to use plastic?
- How can we communicate our ideas, inform perspectives, and inspire action?
Click here for Lesson 3: From Hand, to Land, to Sea:
- How do we describe, quantify, and communicate about issues related to plastic waste?
- What are the causes and effects of pollution?
- What are the sources of plastic pollution?
- How and why does plastic pollution enter our waterways?
- How can we communicate our ideas, inform perspectives, and inspire action?
Click here for Lesson 4: Impacts of Plastic on Aquatic Ecosystems:
- How do we describe, quantify, and communicate about issues related to plastic waste?
- What causes disruptions to the stability of ecosystems?
- How can we use models to make predictions about the impacts of plastic pollution on ecosystems?
- How can personal choices and behaviors reduce the impacts of plastic pollution on ecosystems?
Click here for Lesson 5: We Can Make a Difference
- How do we describe, quantify, and communicate about issues related to plastic waste?
- What is environmental stewardship?
- How are students and other citizens engaging in informed action to address issues of plastic pollution?
- What can we do?